Amusement device



H. N. RIDGWAY.

AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 8.11, 1920.

Patented May 30, 1922.

Inve nTor. Herberf N. Ridgw U ITED srscs tweet HERBERT 1v. R InewAY; or WINTHROP, vmssnonnsnrrsf AMUSEMENT DEVICE;

To all whom it may concern:

Be-it knownthat I, HERBERT N. Rrnewnr,

a citizen of the United States, residing. at Wlnthrop, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvementin Amusement Devices-, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts;

rying cars situated within said enclosure,

and adapted to travel in any direction, and

' meansto cause the car or cars to move about within said enclosure in various directions.

One of the objects of my present inventlon 1s to 'provlde an amusement device of this type with an enclosure havingone or more.

car exit openings through which a car-.may

' pass when it is propelledin the proper direction. The presence of this car-exit opening. adds greatly to the pleasure derivedfro'in using the amusement apparatus because it in-. troduces the element of uncertainty. Since the carer cars are being moved about within the enclosure in various directions, there is always the possibility that at any instant any particular car may be propelledin the proper direction to cause it to pass out through the exit opening, and where there are a number of cars operatingiwithin-the enclosure at'the same time, the question as to when anyparticular'car will be carriedthrough the exit opening adds the element of chanceon uncertainty to the ing the apparatus.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, I propose to provide the enclosure with a car-entrance opening and to connect the exit opening with the entrance opening: by a runway something after the order of a scenic railway or roller coaster through which the cars that are forced through the exit opening will travel before they are again brought back within the enclosure. This travel of the individual car through the runway back to the enclosure introduces the element of varietyinto the pleasure, so that in using my improved apparatus the passengers not only experience the pleasure and excitement derived from riding. in the cars as they travel through their irregular path withinv the enclosure, but they also experi- Application filed February 11, 1924). Serial No.- 357,873.

pleasure derived from us Specification ofLetter-sPatent; pgt td "M3y"3@;l gggf ence the pleasurederived ifrom the chance or uncertainty as to when any-individual car will .in its irregular coursev be propelled through the exit openingwinto the runway, .1 1

and will experiencethe added pleasure and excitement of the unusual ride through the a runway back to the entrance opening: -1-

The enclosure may be :made; infva'ri ous ways and various" devices Lm'ay be used for giving the cars, theirf-irregu lar, traveling movement within thewenclo sure without in any way: departing, from the invention. I will', I however, preferably bulld the enclosure somewhat .on' the order of the structurev disclosed inmy .Pa'tentf No.10] I 1,279,911, dated. September 24,-. 1918. This structure comprises a largestation'ary'platformtover'which the car's may freelyipass in any direction and means at the center. of

the platform 1 1 jprojeCtingithenca fs out- 7 1' wardly. toward the periphery of the sta-fl Y tionary platform. The stationaryplatform is inclined from the periphery downward-1y";

toward the center',sothat after thecar-s have been propelled? toward therperiphery :of-lth'e Q 1 platform they will gravitate toward-the ,cen

ter of the platform where they will'zb'e again:

propelled outwardly. Thecpro pellingfforce will he sufficient to throw the cars-. .occasionally clear to the periphery of the platformf3 5 and there is always a-chance that any; particular car during its travel may be-r'thrown through theexit:opening. a 'In order to give an understandingiof my" invention, I haveillustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof whichi willifl now be. described, after which the--nove'l:

features will 'r uthe app nded. claims In the drawings, Fig Iris a plan view ch an amusement deviceembodying-my-invem tion; l

F1g. 21s'a sec t1on on the. line 2+2, Figil Fig. 3 is a section on tl'iQj;llIl6-33, Fig. L The enclosure or space within which the 1 car or cars travel is-indicated generally at 1'; and this will prefer'ablybe providedyat its;

outer or peripheral edge with aboundary Y wall 2 which maintainsthe cars' within} the enclosure. The passenger carryi-ng., care 'y '3 which travel within the enclosureiare indicated generally at '3, and there. may-{bees many of these carsasdesirable. Therefiwill be more pleasure and excltement produced-1f several .carsare usedatthesame time. These cars may have any suitable or usual construe tion,but will preferably be made so that they will move freely in any direction, all as described in my above-mentioned patent.

Suitable means are provided for causing the cars to travel in different directions within the enclosure whereby each car assumes an irregular course. This propelling of the cars in any direction may be provided for in various ways. One way would be to make the entire floor of the enclosure capable ofrotation so that when the floor is rotated the cars would be thrown outwardly toward the periphery Another way would be to provide means somewhat similar to, that illustrated in my above-mentioned pat-' ent, that is, to provide the enclosure with a stationary platform 1 over which the cars may travel and which has at its center suitable means for throwing the cars outwardly toward the periphery of the platform. As

car-propelling platform 5 toward the periphery of the platform 4.

The parts thus far described are or may be all as usual 1n amusement devices and form no part of my present invention, one

feature offwhich consists in, providing the enclosure: 1 with one or more car exit openings throughwhich a car may pass when it is propelled in the right direction.

Another feature consists in providing the enclosure with one or more car entrance openings and providing a connecting runwa between the exit opening or openings an the entrance opening or openings, so

that any car which passes through the exit opening will travel through the runway and.

be brought back into the enclosure again. The construction shown in the drawlngs is provided with one exit opening 6 and one entrance opening'7. The exit opening leads to a runway indicated generally at 8 which leads back to'the entrance opening 7 and which will preferably have a more or less circuitous course. The particularcharacter of the runway 8 is not essential to the invention, and merely as illustrating more or less conventionally one form, I have shown the runway as provided with a downwardlyinclined portion 9 which extends from the exit opening 6 and which leads to an ele- -vator 10 of some appropriate construction which carries the car from'the foot of the incline 9 up to a greater or less height from which the car can gravitate through other stationary portions of the runway 8 in a manner similar to that in which the cars of roller coaster devices are propelled over their course. Inasmuch as the particular character of j the runway 8 may be varied and is not essential, I have not shown it in detail. The delivery end of the runway will preferably be provided with a downwardly in-- clined portion 11 leading to the entrance opening 7 so that after any individual car 3 has been carried through the runway 8, it will gravitate down the inclined portionll, throughthe entrance opening 7 back into the enclosure 1 again where it will mingle with the other cars within the enclosure, and again wait its turn to be carried through the exit opening 6.

. This downwardly-inclined portion 11 not only has the function of providing means whereby the returning cars may gravitate into the enclosure or space 1, but it also has the function of preventing the cars from being thrown out through the exit opening. If it should happen that any car should be propelled from the center toward the periphery in a direction to pass out through the exit opening the upward inclination of the portion 11 of the runway will prevent the car from traveling to any extent through said opening and will return the'ear to the enclosure again. It will, therefore, be impossible for any car to be thrown out through the exit opening. On the other hand, the downwardly-inclined portion 9 of the runway ensures that if a car is thrown out through the exitopening 6, it will be carried away from, the enclosure by gravitating down the incline and there will be no danger of its returning to the enclosure again through the exit openmg.

My improved device, therefore, not only affords to the passengers the fun and excitement derived from the movement of the cars- 3 within the space or enclosure 1, but also augments such fun and excitement by the element of chance as to when any individual car will be carried through the exit opening 6, and further augments such fun and excitement by the unusual pleasure of the ride through the runway 8 back to the enclosure again.

WVhile'I have illustrated herein a single exit opening, a single entrance opening and a single runway connecting said openings,. yet the number of entrance openings and exit openings and the number of connecting runways is not essential to the invention and one or more may be used without departing from the invention. j 1 In the above description and the claims I have referred to the space 1 as an enclosure.- This term enclosure is used herein as indicating the space within which the, cars ordinarily travel and is not to be understood as necessarily applied to a s ace which is enclosed or bounded by a wal fence or the like.

I claim:

1. In an amusement device, the combination with an enclosure having a car-exit opening and a car-entrance opening, of a plurality of cars within said enclosure, each adapted to travel in any direction, means within the enclosure constructed to act on any car which may occupy a predetermined portion of said enclosure to positively propel said car in an indeterminate direction whereby there is always the possibility that a car may be carried out through the exit opening, a runway connecting said exit opening to the entrance opening, and means along the length of the runway to ensure that any car entering said runway from the exit opening will be returned to the enclosure through the entrance opening.

3. In an amusement device, the combination with an enclosure having a car-exit opening, of a plurality of cars within said enclosure, each adapted to travel 1n any direction, means within the enclosure constructed to act on anycar which may occupy a predetermined portion of the enclosure to positively propel said car in an indetermlnate direction whereby there is always a possibility that any car may be propelled through said exit opening, and means to receive a car thus propelled through the opening and conduct it away from the opening.

4. In an amusement device, the combination with an enclosure having a floor or platform which inclines downwardly from the periphery toward the center thereof, said enclosure having a car-exit opening and a car-entrance opening at its peripheral portion, of a plurality of cars within the enclos- I ure adapted to travel in any direction, means at the center of the enclosure for propelling the cars outwardly toward the periphery thereof in an indeterminate:direction,.whereby there is always the possibility that a car may be carried out through the exit opening, and means forautomaticaly returning to the car-entrance opening any car which 1s dellvered through the car-exit openmg.

5. In an amusement device,the combination with an enclosure having a floor-or platform whlch lnclinesdownwardly toward the center thereof, sald enclosure havmg a care exit opening and a car-entrance opening, of a runway connecting said openings, a plurality of cars'situatedwithin said enclosure and each adapted totravel in any direction,

and means at the center of the enclosure for I propelling the cars outwardly.

6. In an amusement device, the combina tion with an enclosure having .a' car-exlt o enin and a car-entrance o enin 0ft.-

plurality of cars within said enclosure, each 7 adapted to travel in'any direction, means for movmg the cars in various directions within the enclosure, and a runway connecting said openings and having at some point in its length an elevator.

In an amusement device, the combination with an enclosure having a car-exit opening and a car-entrance. opening at the same level, of a plurality of cars within said enclosure, each adapted to travel in any dlrectlon, means for movmg the cars within sald enclosure in various dlrectlons, and a runway connecting said openings, the por- I tion of the runway leading from the exit op ning having a d wnward inclination from sald openingand theportion of. the runway.

leading to the entrance opening having a and means to cause the cars to be propelled from one to the other end of the runway.

8. In an amusement device, the combination with an enclosure having a car-exit openingand a car-entrance opening, of a plurality ofcars within said enclosure, each adapted to travel in any direction, means for moving the cars within said enclosure in various directions, and a runway connecting saidopenings, the portion of the runway leading from the exit opening having a downward inclination'from said opening and the portion of the runway leading to the entrance opening having a downward inclination toward said opening, said runway also includlng an elevating device s tuated between said'inchned portions.

I downward inclination toward said opening In testimony whereof, I have signedmy name to this specification.

- HERBERT N. RIDGWAY. 

